The Truth About Those Rihanna and Jay Z Affair Rumors

The new tell-all book Becoming Beyoncé: The Untold Story released yesterday has been fueling the rumor mill with details about the famously private singer's past. One story making the rounds revolves around the claim that a former publicist started leaking stories about Rihanna and Jay Z having an affair back in 2005 for publicity. That publicist, Jonathan Hay, claims in the book that he worked with "Pon de Replay" writer and producer Vada Nobles and planted the Jay Z stories to make sure Rihanna's first single became a hit.

Page Six reports that both Rihanna's legal representatives and Nobles deny this. Rihanna's lawyer, Jordan Siev, told the paper, "Hay was never Rihanna's publicist or had any personal or professional relationship with her." Hay then clarified that he wasn't Rihanna's publicist, but rather, a publicist for her first single. Nobles cleared it up for good, "I met this guy once, maybe twice ... He had nothing to do with Rihanna," the producer said, "He was using my name and what I was doing to get traction himself." Sketchy.

Considering the questionable sourcing of that biography, perhaps we should leave Beyoncé's narrative to the singer herself. That may mean all we'll get from the "seen but not heard" superstar's personal life are photos of Blue Ivy, but who can complain about that?

Kristina RodulfoSenior Beauty EditorKristina Rodulfo is the Senior Beauty Editor of ELLE.com—she oversees beauty and wellness across ELLE's digital media platforms and is an expert in product testing, identifying trends, and exploring the intersections of beauty, culture, and identity.

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